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The Smart Cities We Need Manifest: A 2.0 roadmap for the urban future

The Smart Cities We Need Manifest addresses the need for smarter and more agile urban development policies. It is a roadmap for change agents at local and global levels. It is a contribution of 20 leading organisations and experts to Habitat III Prepcom in Surabay (July 25th-27th) and to Habitat III Summit in Quito (October 17th-20th).

WHY A MANIFEST?
We live in a new era. We are over 4 billion urban dwellers. We are more than 3,4 billion internet users. We are over 2 billion users of digital social networks. The figures are expected to rise sharply.

We are surrounded by technologies but in a paradoxical way. An increasing number of new solutions and innovations are available. However the feeling that our future is in our own hands decreases.

It is time to get smarter. To be more than users and consumers of new technologies, services or devices.

THE FUTURE WE WANT
The concept of “smart cities” popped up 10 years ago as a pragmatic attempt by corporate IT companies to address rising urbanization issues and create new growth opportunities. It was a bright move and gained global momentum.

Meanwhile, disruptions caused by the digital age in cities have fuelled tech-optimism and tech-anxiety altogether, making it vital to move beyond marketing, to figure out how smart urbanization can drive the change, redefine risk assessments and spur new financial leverage.

While Habitat III Summit to take place in October 2016 highlights “The Future We Want” and “The City we Need”, we advocate for a more diverse, pragmatic and ambitious approach, that is “The Smart Cities We Need.”

The Smart Cities We Need Manifest (Nicolas Buchoud, ed.) displays over 20 original contributions. From experts and practitioners. From the global North, as well as BRICS and developing countries and cities. From public, private, academic and civil society spheres.

From social communication to complex urban systems, the interoperability of databases to a new generation of living-labs and free zones, South-North innovation networks and global trade agreements, smart cities are a global, a local, a personal issue.

The Smart Cities We Need Manifest is meant to help you design your roadmap for what’s next. You can easily position yourself on the 10 strategic priorities map, assess where you are standing, analyse how your city, your company, your network, your organization is actually performing. And how you can build your way for a more equitable future.

The Smart Cities We Need Manifest is available in paperback copy and online. It is yours.

READ IT! COMMENT ON IT! SHARE IT! SO THAT ALTOGETHER, WE CAN BUILD THE FOLLOW UP.